Redline rocks

I think you would enjoy "Nightwatch" (1994).
Probably also Green Room.
I also wrote out this list a while ago

Thanks for the recommendation!

I've always wanted to get better at taking notes, but I have no system for it. Any tips?

bro theres this giant alien which leveled half a city and ate 2 supernukes like it was nothing, we're just gonna need you to drown inside this nightmare engine with no training and take it out real quick..."

Otherwise the world will end, yes. So get in the robot or you will be killed by the aforementioned monster, you're literally out only hope. Shinji himself realises in that first scene that he and everyone he loves will die if he doesn't get in the EVA and he still doesn't get in the EVA.

I understand that he is depressed and so on. He is crippled with executive dysfunction. He even asks the question himself of "why won't I do it?" Because he understands that there is some tremendous mental block keeping him from acting when he has to. I understand all of this. I am still frustrated that he will not get in the EVA.

Understanding a characters motives, does not mean you need to enjoy them, and I think he was shitty in that moment. The stakes of the present moment are made out to be so massive, that I struggle to sympathise with him.

nah the entire situation was a horror show, humanity was on borrowed time as soon as a 14 year old was tasked with saving it.

Yeah I don't think the situation is optimal either.

It's very good so far!

No worries, I also apologise for the hostility in my response. I just feel like there's some people who have had the "get in the robot" discussion with chuds a bunch of times, and now I become someone they can unload frustrations onto. So I feel a need to set some very clear boundaries.

I think the show is kinda challenging itself due to the stakes of the world. It's very hard to sympathise with Shinji being afraid to get in the robot, when the entire world is at stake. It's hard to sympathise with him being afraid, when the alternative to getting in the robot is also him dying. On a larger scale I really think his dad doesn't just suck as a father, but also at his job. Dude really needs to be there for his best pilot and the fact he isn't willing isn't a great seal of excellence.

My frustration with Shinji is mainly in the first episode. That's where I'm (internally) screaming "holy shit dude shut the fuck up and get in the robot and then figure out all this shit if you all survive afterwards but get in the robot please".

And then finally the whole arguing from the position that I don't understand basic stuff, but that's in large part me projecting my insecurities onto you and me taking frustrations from the general vibe of discussions on hexbear and generalising my interactions.
I'm sorry for that, but also kinda not. Says something about the duality of man.

Very cool!

Realistically, the therapists’ job in this scenario would be manipulating the soldiers and/or finding ways to numb and avoiding the pain.

Yeah, and they really need someone who actually knows how to do that, instead of Misato whiplashing between supportive caretaker and bullying superior officer.

Anyway, despite relating to Shinji in many ways, the grandness and stakes of the show makes it very hard for me to be on his side. Like I literally become military brained and demand they torture or MKULTRA the kid in order to fight the literal demons.

Yeah, the stakes are too high. There's people telling me "you just don't get it!" and tbh I feel like I get it, the show is very good at establishing Shinjis mental state, the reason for his mental state and why he doesn't wanna get in the robot in episode 1. I am still annoyed at his apprehension because the world is about to end.

I guess I’m not into mecha stuff at all lol.

Check out the movie "Pacific rim". If that doesn't get to you, then I'd say you're not into mecha stuff.
There's a scene where a mecha is punching a kaiju again and again and the punches just aren't hard enough, so it activatues MASSIVE JET ENGINES IN ITS ELBOWS so it can PUNCH HARDER and then it PULLS OUT A SWORD FROM ITS THIGH.
There's also a Chinese and a russian mecha and they're very cool. The russian mecha has a nuclear reactor and it is best described as being a Kruschevka come to life.

Is it for the Shinji thing? Or is it just for watching anime?

Snitches get stitches